The invention as described herein relates to liquid dispensers, and more particularly, to portable dispensers for sanitary dispensing liquids for human consumption. When a liquid dispenser or container is used by only one person the problems of the transfer of germs, viruses, and the like does not arise. Unfortunately, this is not a perfect world.
Commonly at an event, the participants will require the infusion of liquids to prevent dehydration brought on by the perspiration of their exertion. The liquid used is most commonly plain water, although, various sweetened or electrolytic replacement types of drinks are also used. Frequently, each participant has his or her own liquid container for fluid replenishment and when each participant limits himself or herself to their own container the problem of transfer of infectious agents does not occur. However, the participants, particularly children, will share a liquid container with other participants and thus share the infectious agents which may lead to the spread of colds, flu, or other communicable diseases.
At some team events, the team will provide a group of liquid dispensers for use by the participants. While, the intent may be to allow each participant to have his or her own liquid dispenser, in the rush of the competition, the xe2x80x9cownershipxe2x80x9d of a particular dispenser is frequently in question which results in the containers being shared.
Specifically, the problem is that the lips of a person will touch the mouth of the dispenser, contaminating the dispenser with the germs, bacteria, or viruses from the first user. Then the second and subsequent users will drink from the dispenser and inadvertently both share the existing germs, bacteria, and viruses and add their own germs, bacteria, and viruses to the collection on the dispenser. This behavior often leads to the spread of an illness throughout a team or school much to the consternation of the parents.
One attempt to resolve the problem has been the use of disposable drinking cups. However, this produces an additional cost and participants will frequently reuse a drinking cup obviating the sanitary benefit of the disposable cups. Additionally, the use of disposable cups causes difficulties at the container dispensing the liquid when a large group of participants will queue up and mill about trying to fill their cups. Finally, there is the problem of disposing of the used cups.
While in most cases, the illness that spread is something relatively harmless such as a common cold that may have been spread anyway, there is, however, the risk of something more harmful being spread. Regardless of what the participants have been told, there likely will be at least some of the participants who will simply grab the first liquid dispenser found and drink from it thus spreading germs.
What is needed is a sanitary liquid dispenser that is designed to minimize, if not prevent, the spread of germs, bacteria, and viruses by preventing oral contact with the users.
The invention as disclosed herein is a cover for a liquid container that provides for the sanitary dispensations of liquids to a user. The cover is mated to a conventional bottle using a conventional mating mechanism, such as threads to screw the cover on, or deformable snap fit to snap the cover on or off.
The cover is a similar to a conventional cover and has a central spout for dispensing the liquid. The spout has an on/off valve so that the spout can be turned off and the container moved or stored without spilling the contents. The valve may be a conventional pull-on, push-off valve that is commonly used for water bottles and the like.
The cover may have a pair of upwardly extending horns formed on its periphery. The horns located oppositely on the periphery and extend upwardly from the top surface of the cover. The horns space the face of the user away from the surface of the spout forcing the user to squirt the liquid into the mouth of the user and preventing the user""s mouth from contacting the spout, thus preventing the transfer of bacteria, germs, or viruses.
By keeping the spout and top of the cover germ free, the liquid container may be used by one or more user. Even when the best efforts to segregate each user to his or her own liquid container fail, the shared liquid container will allow the sharing of only liquid and not of germs, bacteria, or viruses.
The invention is a sanitary liquid dispenser designed to minimize, if not prevent, the spread of germs, bacteria, and viruses by preventing oral contact with the users.